| Graduate
School Statement Strategies |
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How Are You
Qualified?
Your
academic performance will play the most significant role in exhibiting to the
admissions committee your qualification
for admission. However, the personal statement gives you the opportunity to
analyze your background and offer the insight and interpretation that you want
your readers to take away from your application.
The best way to prove your qualification
is to discuss concrete experiences that show your abilities and qualities. Details
about the process are paramount. What we mean by the "process" is the path
to achievement. The rest of the application has already summarized your accomplishments
and activities. Show the reader what you did in concrete terms, and most importantly, highlight
your active roles.
The experiences that demonstrate
your qualifications are not necessarily distinct from those that explain your
motivation. You shouldn't plan on dividing the essay into two separate sections
for each, but rather organize the structure by topic and extrapolate insights
as they develop. We will cover structure in greater depth in its own section,
but it is important that you begin thinking in terms of an integrated essay.
Research Experience
The best way to demonstrate your
qualification for graduate school is to focus on research experience, since
research will be your main job for the duration of your studies. Be specific
about what you did. If you worked for a year under a professor, you might consider
emphasizing one particular project and exploring that in depth. The experience
does not have to have been a major undertaking: Any practical experience can
be used as long as you demonstrate your enthusiasm and aptitude for the field
of study.
Remember to keep the discussion personal.
Do not become bogged down in minute details and jargon. Ultimately, the focus
of the story should remain on you and your growth or success.
This
applicant cites specific projects to demonstrate both the growth
of his interest in psychology research and the skills he has honed in the
process. Note, in the third paragraph, that he does not jump to the end result
of presenting his paper at a conference. Rather, he shows the work he did--the
active role he played--to make that accomplishment possible. Moreover, he
concludes this paragraph not with a final word about his research, but with
an explanation of what he has gained: "Again, I was involved in all aspects
of the experiment, from typing the protocol and administering it to the subjects
to analyzing the data and finally presenting my results."
Field Experience
If the program you're applying to
is more practice-oriented, then demonstrating real-world experience can be
just as important as academic pursuits.
This
applicant is applying to a computer science program, and he has
a couple years of work experience. He explains one specific achievement as
follows: "As an MS student at DePaul University, I worked as a network support
technician and project manager for Information Services. My most significant
accomplishment in this capacity involved the re-wiring of over a thousand
dormitory rooms to enable the students to have Internet access with a link
to the other four campuses. In doing so, I had to investigate the existing
needs of a high-speed Internet network, as well as the transport of bandwidth
to support future demands, which are almost impossible to determine." He
starts by describing the end result, which in this case is acceptable because
he poses it almost as a challenge that he faced, and then he proceeds to
explain the concrete tasks he had to perform. In this applicant's case, it's
clear that citing academic work could not prove the same level of skill that
he has shown by drawing on real-world experiences.
Unrelated Work
Experience
The
skill sets needed to thrive in various fields often overlap, and some qualities
are essential everywhere.
If you have a strong record in an unrelated field, you should not hesitate
to discuss this, though the more you can tie the discussion in with your current
objectives, the better.
This
applicant is applying to a graduate program in geology, but he
devotes some space to his work experience in computers: "During the past
18 months I have had firsthand experience with computers in a wide array
of business applications. This has stimulated me to think about ways in which
computers could be used for scientific research. One idea that particularly
fascinates me is mathematical modeling of natural systems, and I think those
kinds of techniques could be put to good use in geological science." Not
only is this particular link relevant, but it also offers a unique angle,
since few geology students would think to emphasize computers and mathematical
modeling. Note, however, that the applicant could have described his work
in computers in further depth before returning to geology. You should explore
experiences on their own terms before trying to force connections.
The links provided by this
applicant are far broader, but still effective. Though she is
applying to a Master of Library Service program, she discusses volunteer
experience in a nonprofit organization: "My work for the organization has
taken a number of forms over the years, but can be summed up as gathering
information, both practical and technical, and using human relations skills
to make it accessible to others." Basic qualities such as "human relations
skills" could have a wide variety of applications, but that fact doesn't
diminish their relevance to the applicant's future in library service.
Extracurricular
Activities
It is very possible to demonstrate
the relevant qualities you possess for graduate school through extracurricular
activities. The approaches you take will essentially be the same as those we
discussed in the above two sections, Field Experience and Unrelated Work Experience,
depending on whether the activity is related. In the Library Service case cited
above, for example, the applicant was drawing on volunteer rather than work
experiences, but the purposes were the same.
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